The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1887-01-26
THE POWER OF DYNAMITE.
HOW 1T MAY BE APPLIED IN
NAVAL WARFARE.
The Way in Which the InflexLble,
England's Mightiest Warship,
Gan be DesfrnVed-NNnr RnIInnna

Can be Destroyed-War Balloons.
Dynamite, a fluid capable of spon-
taneous ignition, the fumes from which
are penetrating and killing, are accord
ing TO Professor Mezzeroff, to be the de-
stroyers Of future armies and navies.
Gatling and siege guns mortars, shrap-
mel, the thunderous charge of cavalry.
the terrible bayonet charges of the in
fantry, are all, in the Professors opinion,
to give place to dynamite and the fluid
which, he says, England already knows
how to make, and which an enterprising
people like the Americans ought TO use
if they get into a fight with another ma
ton.
In talk with a New York Sun re-
porter allusion was made 10 the big iron
clads of England, France, Italy, and
Germany, and the Professor was quite
disgusted when he spoke of how defence
less America would be should one of the
thunderers be sent across the ocean to
lombard New York. "The English
warship Infexible," he said, sis invul-
nerable against all the warships of the
United States, and there is no way by
which she could be destroyed but by
torpedoes. The United States haven't
even torpedo boat that could approach
her. Why2 Because they are old-fash-
Toned, and consist only Of spar thirty
or forty feet long attached to a small
boat. The Inflexible while at anchor has
netting around her to the distance of
thirty feet, end at night she is brilliantly
illuminated with electric lights to reveal
the approach of an enemy. If one of our
Of faA fn
near her she would down with her launch
in a jitfy, and direct one of her torpedoes,
steered by electricity, right bang into
her, and then where would Uncle SANS
tuppenny torpedo boat bel In addition,
the Inflexible carries a number of Nor
denfeldt and Hotchkiss machine guns,
which can throw bullets of compressed
steel, weighing from one to six pounds,
and throw anywhere from two to L. 500
per minute. Then she has four eighty
ton guns, each capable of throwing a
solid shot weighing 1000 pounds. Ask
of the winds where Americas navy
would be if the Inhexible ever got down
right mad"
The Professor said the foregoing was
only part of the Inflexible's load of mis-
cry. "Why," he said, ''she could stand
seven miles out to sea and throw shot and
shell slap bang into New York, Brook
lyn, and New Jersey, and set fire to them
in few hours. She could do this with
shells filled with the spontaneous burn
ing fluid to which passingly alluded a
few moments ago. This fluid is com
bination of white phosphorus dissolved
by bi-sulphide of carbon. The shell is
filled with it, and when it strikes the
fluid ignites, and no living being can
stand the fumes from the fluid longer
than minute. England has 10000 of
these shells lying in Woolwich Arsenal
ready to be filled on the shortest possible
order. The Inhexible could throw a shell
every minute for hours, and New York
would be destroyed in no time"
''How could the Inhexible be de-
stroyed2" asked the reporter.
"Well, her walls are forty-eight inches
thick opposite the engines and her mag
azine, twenty-four inches of which are
steel plate, and this armor extends ten or
twelve feet under water. A torpedo
boat would require to strike her at least
fourteen feet below the water line where
the armor is but twenty-four inches
thick. America has nothing that could
do even that. Wasn't it shown at the
trials of the 100ton Armstrong gun at
Spezzia that the projectile from even
that tremendous gun could only pierce
twenty-five inch armor3 The projectiles
from Americas biggest gun would do no
more injury to the Inaexible than if they
were so much hail"
"Then how could we fight vessel
with such powerful engines of warl'
There are two ways by which we
could destroy her. One is to Guild few
fast cruisers of say three thousand tons
displacement, and send hall dozen of
them against her at the same time.
While they were pouring their fire into
her two or three more could go at her
full speed and ram her. The Infexible
cannot lower her eighty-ton gun below
an angle of ten degrees, so the cruisers
couldn't be hurt by them much at short
range. Then the cruisers that had
rammed her could throw on to her deck
shells filled with the spontaneous burn
ing fluid. The InAexible is fireproofl
Why, OF course she is, but the fumes
from the fluid would kill all the men on
board. That is one way of getting rid
Ol inc lnueAlDle. Inc Otner way would
be to build torpedo boats at least one
hundred feet long, with a speed of forty
knots an hour, having reversible engines,
and the boat so constructed that the
highest part Of the declSgould only be
one foot above the water The bullets
from the machine guns on the Infiexible
would fall harmlessly upon the little
boat and at her rate of speed it would
be impossible to train the eighty-ton-
ners on her, as it takes several minutes
to get them into position. Our torpedo
boat should have in her bow a gun at
least fourteen feet under water which
could throw a contact torpedo that would
strike the lnfiexible below her twenty
four inch aymor plates. The torpedo
could be thrown just as well under the
water as above. In addition to this she
should carry hollow steel tube of great
power which could be run out seventy
five feet when she comes within short
distance of the enemy. On the end OF
this tube should be a three hundred
pound dynamite torpedo which would
explode tle moment il came in contact
with the sides of the Indexible. To
be perfectly scientific our new